Taus Makhacheva (, born August 14, 1983) is a contemporary artist from Russia. She creates works that explore the restless connections between historical narratives and fictions of cultural authenticity. Often humorous, her art considers the resilience of images, objects and bodies emerging out of stories and personal experiences. Her methodology involves reworking of materials, landscapes and monuments, pushing against walls, opening up ceilings and proliferating institutional spaces with a cacophony of voices.
Family
Grandfather: Rasul Gamzatov - avar poet, prose writer, publicist, Soviet and Russian public and political figure, translator, the Laureate Stalin and Lenin Prizes, People's Poet of Dagestan ASSR, Hero of Socialist Labor (1923-2003).
Grandmother: Patimat Gamzatova - Head of the Dagestan Museum of Fine Arts (1964-2000).
Mother: Patimat Gamzatova - art historian, Сorresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Honored Culture Worker of Dagestan Republic.
Father: Osman Makhachev - Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation.
Education
2011-2013 – MA Fine Art, Royal College of Art, London 2008-2009 – New Strategies in Contemporary Art, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Moscow 2003-2007 – BA (Hons) Fine Art (Studio Practice & Contemporary Critical Studies), Goldsmiths College, University of London, London 2002-2003 – Foundation Diploma in Photography, London College of Communication, London 2000-2005 Russian State University for the Humanities, World Economy, Moscow
Selected collections
Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario Centre Pompidou, Paris Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig Gazprombank, Moscow Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, San Francisco Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Moscow Pushkin Museum, Moscow P. S. Gamzatova Dagestan Museum of Fine Arts, Makhachkala Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah Tate Modern, London Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow Uppsala Konstmuseum, Uppsala Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven Vehbi Koç Foundation, Istanbul Videoinsight Foundation, Turin YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku
Prizes
2021 Kandinsky Prize, Media Art, shortlisted, Moscow 2021 Art Here 2021 Richard Mille Art Prize. Memory, Time, Territory, Abu Dhabi Louvre, shortlisted, Abu Dhabi 2019 Future Generation Art Prize, shortlisted, Victor Pinchuk Foundation, Kyiv 2018 Cosmoscow 2018, Artist of the Year, Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art, winner, Moscow 2016 Kandinsky Prize, Young Artist, Project of the year, winner, Moscow (as Super Taus) 2015 VI Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art Prize, winner, Moscow 2013 Future of Europe, winner, (GfZK) Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig 2013 Innovation Prize, Regional Project, shortlisted, National Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow 2012 Innovation Prize, New Generation, winner, National Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow 2011 Kandinsky Prize, Media Art, shortlisted, Moscow
Selected solo exhibitions
2022 — Space of Celebration, curated by Lucas Morin, Nora Razian, Jameel Arts Center, Dubai
2021 — It’s Possible to Raise the Ceiling a Bit, curated by Hanne Hagenaars, Fries Museum, Friesland
2020 — 4`224,92 cm’2 of Degas, сurated by Nicole Schweizer, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne
2020 — Hold Your Horses, curated by Helen Watson and Melissa Burntown, The Tetley, Leeds
2020 — Sturdy Black Shoes, curated by Edit Molnar and Marcel Schwierin, Edit Russ Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg
2019 — Superhero Sighting Society, conceived by Sabih Ahmed and Taus Makhacheva, KADIST Foundation, Paris
2019 — Charivari, curated by Suad Garayeva-Maleki, Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku
2019 — D’une pierre, une montagne, curated by Nicolas Audureau, LE CAP - Centre d'arts plastiques de Saint-Fons, Saint-Fons
2019 — The Strong Ones, curated by Lýdia Pribišová, Hit Gallery, Bratislava
2018 — Storeroom, curated by Christiane Berndes, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
2018 — BaidÀ, narrative projects, London
2018 — Baida, Althuis Hofland Fine Arts, the Gemma, Amsterdam
2018 — Tightrope, curated by Rebecka Wigh Abrahamsson, Uppsala Konstmuseum, Uppsala
2017 — Cloud Caught on a Mountain, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow
2017 — Second World, Third Attempt, Leo Xu Projects, Shanghai
2015 — Vababai Vadadai!, narrative projects, London
2015 — (In)sidenotes, curated by Rebecka Wigh Abrahamsson, Uppsala Konstmuseum, Uppsala
2014 — Dagestan. Not for sale, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, artSumer, Istanbul
2014 — A Walk, A Dance, A Ritual, curated by Ilina Koralova, (GfZK) Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig
2013 — What? Whose? Why?, curated by Daria Kirsanova, Raf Projects, Tehran
2013 — Story Demands to be Continued, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, Republic of Dagestan Union of Artists Exhibition Hall, Makhachkala
2013 — On Historical Ideals of Labour in the Country that Conquered Space, curated by Carlos Noronha Feio, The Mews Project Space, London
2013 — The Process or Instance of Breaking Open, curated by Emmeli Person and Maria Kotlyachkova, Kalmar Konstmuseum, Kalmar
2012 — City States, Topography of Masculinity, curated by Irina Stark and Kelly Klifa, the 7th Liverpool Biennial, LJMU Copperas Hill Building, Liverpool
2012 — Let Me Be Part of A Narrative, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, Paperworks Gallery, Winzavod, Moscow
2011 — Affirmative Action (mimesis), curated by Marco Scotini, Laura Bulian Gallery, Milan
2010 — Affirmative Actions, curated by Alexey Maslyaev, Panopticon Inutero, Moscow
2009 — A Space of Celebration, Pervaya Gallery, Makhachkala, Dagestan
Selected group exhibitions
2024
Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, curated by Ute Meta Bauer, Riyadh
Wunderkammer to Come: From the Uncompleted, a Beginning, curated by Yoko Nose, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Japan
Perhaps Here, curated by Tarek Abu El Fetouh, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah
2023
14th Gwangju Biennale, curated by Sook-Kyung Lee, Gwangju
the only constant, curated by Maya Allison, NYUAD ART Gallery, Abu Dhabi
After Laughter Comes Tears, curated by Joel Valabrega, MUDAM, Luxembourg
Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys, curated by Helen Hirsch and Katrin Sperry, Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun
2022
In the heart of another country, curated by Dr Omar Kholeif, Contemporary Art of Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg
I'm Stepping High, I'm Drifting, and There I Go Leaping, curated by Weng Xiaoyu, Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art, Shandong
The Circus We Are, curated by Joanna De Vos, Namur, Four locations in Namur - Le Delta, musée Félicien Rops, Musée des Arts Anciens, Belgian Gallery, Namur
Hurting and healing. Let's imagine a different heritage, curated by Charles Esche, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm
Migrations in Art – the Art of Migrations, curated by Danilo Vuksanović, Jelena Ognjanović and Luka Kulić, Novi Sad
Moving Woman, curated by Maria Lind, Smena, Kazan
2021
Biennial of Difficult Heritage, curated by Anton Valkovsky, Volgograd
One Point Five, curated by Stefanie Böttcher, Kunsthalle Mainz, Mainz
Hands, curated by Madhursee Dutta and Ala Younis, Akademie der Künste der Welt, Köln
Metamorphosis and Time of Mourning, curated by Daniela, Linda Dostálková, PLATO Ostrava, Ostrava
2020
Afterglow, Yokohama Triennale, curated by Raqs Media Collective, Yokohama
Lahore Biennale 02: Between the Sun and the Moon, curated by Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi, Lahore
2019
Cosmopolis #2: Rethinking the Human, curated by Kathryn Weir with associate Cosmopolis curator Ilaria Conti in collaboration with associate curators Charléne Dinhut and Zhang Hanlu, Centre Pompidou, Paris
New Archive of Limited Edition Art (NATI), Shaltai editions exhibition, сurated by Irina Gorlova and Antonio Geusa, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Somewhere in Between, curated by Ulrika Flink, Boras Konstmuseum, Boras
Art Encounters Biennial, curated by Maria Lind and Anca Rujoiu, Timișoara
Where Water Comes Together with Other Water, curated by Adélaïde Blanc, Daria de Beauvais, Yoann Gourmel, Mat-thieu Lelièvre, Vittoria Matarrese, Claire Moulène, Hugo Vitrani, 15th Lyon Contemporary Art Biennale, Fagor Factory, macLYON, Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon
The Life of Things, curated by Maria Wills Londono in collaboration with Audrey Genois and Maude Johnson,16th MOMENTA Biennale de l’image, Galerie de l'UQAM, Montreal, Quebec
Happiness is Born in the Guts, curated by Jagna Domżalska, Galeria Miejska Arsenal, Poznan
The Art of Being Good, curated by Siim Preiman, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn
After Leaving | Before Arriving, curated by Elisabeth Del Prete, Daniel Milnes, Lýdia Pribišová, Neringa Stoškutė and Alessandra Troncone, 12th Kaunas Biennial, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas
Future Generation Art Prize, curated by Björn Geldhof and Tatiana Kochubinska, 58th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, collateral event, Palazzo Ca’ Tron, Venice, Pinchuk Art Centre, Kyiv
The Keeper; To Have And To Hold, curated by Emer McGarry, The Model, Sligo
2018
Punk Orientalism, curated by Sara Raza, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
Rituals of Signs and Metamorphosis, curated by Tarek Abou El Fetouh, Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing
Tomorrow Will Be Yesterday, curated by Andrey Misiano, ERTY gallery, Tbilisi
Alter Heroes Coalition, curated by Daria Khan, Mimosa House, London (as Super Taus)
Supernature in Two Parts: Part I, curated by Daria Khan and Mimosa House, Lisson Gallery, London (as Super Taus)
The Border, curated by Inke Arns and Thibaut de Ruyter, Goethe Institute at the Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Russian Academy of Arts, Ekaterinburg, Almaty and Tashkent
Beautiful World, Where Are You?, curated by Kitty Scott and Sally Tallant, 10th Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool
Transformatio. Contemporary Art of Dagestan, curated by Maria Filatova, Mardjani Foundation, Erarta Museum, Saint Petersburg
One Place After Another, curated by Viktor Misiano and Anna Zhurba, session IV of Viktor Misiano's "The Human Condition", Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre, Moscow
The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence, curated by Bregje van der Haak, Andrés Jaque, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Mirjam Varadinis, Manifesta 12, Palermo
Starting From the Desert, curated by Marco Scotini, 2nd Yinchuan Biennale, Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan, Yinchuan
Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More, curated by Katerina Gregos,1st Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Riga
Soon Enough, Art in Action, curated by Maria Lind, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm
2017
Life from My Window, curated by Andrey Misiano, Laura Bulian gallery, Milan
New Literacy, curated by Joao Ribas, 4 Ural Industrial Biennial, Ekaterinburg
The Travellers: Voyage and Migration in New Art from Central and Eastern Europe, curated by Magdalena Moskalewicz, Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn
The Border, curated by Inke Arns and Thibaut de Ruyter, Goethe Institute at Ioseb Grishashvili Tbilisi History Museum (Karvasla), Tbilisi
How To Live Together, curated by Nicolaus Schafhausen, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna
Viva Arte Viva, curated by Christine Macel, 57th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice
Space Force Construction, curated by Matthew Witkovsky, Richard and Ellen Sandor (Art Institute Chicago), Katerina Chuchalina with Anna Ilchenko (V-A-C Foundation), Peter Taub, Palazzo delle Zattere, Venice
1st Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art, curated by Kate Fowle, Katya Inozemtseva, Snejana Krasteva, Andrey Misiano, Ilmira Bolotyan, Sasha Obukhova, Tatiana Volkova, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow
The Border, curated by Inke Arns and Thibaut de Ruyter, Goethe Institute, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Kiev, Minsk, Dortmund
2016